EMA adds Power Integrations 3D models to CAD library

Power Integrations 3D models can make power-conversion design simpler, saving engineering time and eliminating mistakes

By Warren Miller, contributing writer

EMA
Design Automation
has recently opened up its Ultra Librarian CAD library of models for Power
Integrations components, giving engineers the opportunity to access field-tested
models for use in their own designs. The
symbols, footprints, and 3D models of the Power Integrations designs are
available for free at ultralibrarian.com, power.com, and digikey.com.
Power Integrations’ electronic components have been incorporated into
high-voltage power-conversion applications in everything from TVs and computers
to smart phones and kitchen appliances — and now developers are free to
integrate them into whatever their own imaginations can come up with.

Ultra
Librarian 3D models offer higher accuracy than more generic 3D specifications,
which can be important for tight-space requirements, according to EMA, and are
subject to more than 30 examinations by the Ultra Librarian team before they
are verified by Power Integrations engineers. “All features such as matching
pin names and numbers, accurate cross-probing between symbols and footprints,
and 3D models are precisely aligned with the footprints,” said EMA.

Power Integrations
specs can be downloaded in formats for almost every electronic design
automation (EDA) and computer-aided design (CAD) tool on the market, and all available
designs are constructed so that the corresponding symbols, footprints, and
models work together correctly.

“We chose to
provide Ultra Librarian-based models for Power Integrations components because
we wanted the highest-quality design models possible, and we wanted it freely
available to the widest audience,” said David Chen, director of applications engineering
for Power Integrations, in a statement. “Giving our customers the ability
to download design-ready, verified models allows them to easily and correctly
create designs using our high-performance electronic components.”

Example model selection window. (Source: Power Integrations)

The Power
Integrations website makes models easily available right from the associated
product page. Models like those shown in the above diagram cover schematic symbols
used by EDA tools to represent components in a design, device footprints when
creating printed circuit boards, and 3D models for creating virtual versions of
the final product for use in creating the physical element used to house the
device or in simulations for thermal analysis, vibration, and other real-world
concerns.

Power-conversion
designs are ubiquitous in all manner of electronic products, and low power
consumption and energy efficiency are paramount in such designs. Smart utility meters, for example, commonly
implement power-conversion systems to help regulate energy consumption. With the help of EMA’s design-ready models,
it might have just become a little easier for developers to create more ways of
doing just that.